Keep it Simple

As a working wife and mom, I long for times of peace. After a long day, the kids are down for the night (if the little one doesn't spring out of bed for a number of unnecessary reasons), the husband is in the man cave, the kitchen is clean and I am able to soak in the bathtub. This is RARE, but when it does happen, it feels so good.

Peace is hard to come by now-a-days. There are times when our homes are family battlegrounds. Siblings are fighting. Spouses are at odds. The mothers and fathers of our children make us question what we were thinking all those years (or months) ago! On any given day, our jobs can be full of strife, stress, and stupidity! We live a world of war and constant combat. There are far too many reasons to be in an uproar. There is so much chaos around us that peace seems almost foreign.

Honestly, it's funny to even think that peace is attainable. In the physical sense, here on earth, it's definitely not. As long as there are different people, personalities, and perspectives, any level of war will always be among us. However, spiritual peace is not about ending war or the elimination of craziness. It is much more about inner-peace with God, which can be hard for us to establish because it requires a few things...

“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” -Isaiah 26:3

First, we must have a desire for peace. If we really, truly want peace, we will start to look for it. That's what we do with the things we want. We want a new car, we go to cars.com and look. We want some new shoes, we hit the mall. If we want to get to a place of inner-peace with the Most High, we have to go after it. How? By spending time with Him in prayer and reading His Word. 

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”- John 16:33

Secondly, we have to establish some quiet. Sometimes I talk too much (we know this from previous posts). Other times, I'm surrounded by so much noise I can barely hear myself think! In order to work toward inner-peace, we have to silence the outer noise. This gives us the space to spend time with God, to hear from Him. Then we start to experience what inner-peace feels like...the calm, even in the midst of the storm. That said, carving out dedicated time to God is a great starting point for establishing peace. This is hard though. Time is not easy to come by and truthfully, neither is sleep. However, making time for Him is what will make all the difference. Uninterrupted, focused, quiet time, no matter how little or how much, is what opens our souls to the peace only He can provide. 

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”-John 14:27

Lastly, if we are looking to experience peace, we have to own it. When God gives us assurance and reassurance about a given situation, we have to own that sense of peace. Peace doesn't mean we know the outcome or that it will even be what we desire. But it does mean that regardless of the outcome, we have the peace in our spirit that God is in control, and it will all be okay. This is probably the hardest part because what often stares us in the face is dim and dark; hope seems far from it. But when we seek peace and make time for God, we start to sense peace, even in the scariest times. 

Having inner-peace is a sign of faith in God. It shows that no matter what, we are committed to trust that He has our best interest at heart, and He knows what He's doing. Inner-peace doesn't happen instantaneously. There isn't a special spirit button that we push and all of a sudden we are peaceful. It takes LOTS and LOTS of time. It comes from LOTS and LOTS of experiences. The more we endure, the more practice we get. Situations and circumstances are often changing around us, but God is constant. That in and of itself should be the source of our peace. Today, I pray that all of us develop a real desire for peace. I pray that we try harder each day to make time to quietly hang out with God. I pray that we believe in the peace that He gives us, regardless of the world around us. With that, PEACE OUT! Be Blessed. XOXO